Why Walgreen (WAG) Stock Is Higher Today

Walgreen (WAG) stock is rising after the company reported a 3.6% increase in same store sales for August 2014.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) --Shares of Walgreen Co. (WAG) are higher by 2.29% to $61.60 on Thursday morning, after the company reported its August 2014 same-store sales grew by 3.6% to $6.39 billion, compared to $6.16 billion for August 2013.

The company's same-store August 2014 sales came in slightly below the 3.8% growth analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast.

Walgreens said its pharmacy sales accounted for 65.7% of its total August sales.Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates WALGREEN CO as a Buy with a ratings score of B+. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate WALGREEN CO (WAG) a BUY. This is driven by some important positives, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows low profit margins."